A Multi-Purpose Simulation Environment for UAV Research

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are playing an important role in today's military initiatives. UAVs have proven to be invaluable in locating critical targets and reporting enemy movements or positions to battlefield commanders. Integration of new technologies necessitates simulation prior to fielding new systems in order to avoid costly errors. The unique nature of UAVs in a modern combat environment requires the simulation of a significant part of the battle space to test the robustness of new technologies. Furthermore, simulation environments should be flexible and generic to allow for expedient testing of a wide range of concepts. Members of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson AFB are developing a multi-purpose simulation environment that will allow for the assessment of many different types of UAV technologies. This paper discusses this simulation activity and describes how it fits into AFRL's corporate plan.